For a long time Israel and its foreign policy seemed to be
drifting, essentially swept along by current events in
America and Europe. Now it seems that Prime Minister Sharon
has maneuvered PA head Yasser Arafat into a corner and a very
weak position.
Shamir, Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak -- all seemed to be following
essentially the same non-policy, merely reacting to the
initiatives of America and Europe in Madrid, Oslo and
Washington D.C. Events appeared to flow along, with an
internal logic and dynamic of their own and without being
strongly influenced by the Israeli government. Rather the
forces of world opinion, the machinations of the Palestinian
and the oil-rich Arabs and, certainly not least, the
surprisingly successful maneuvering of the Israeli Left both
in politics and in the world media, all seemed to dictate the
basic thrust of events.
Israel under Shamir was forced to attend the Madrid peace
conference. Rabin was elected promising a tough approach to
security but he soon signed the Oslo agreements and became
the leader of the peace camp.
Netanyahu was elected because of dissatisfaction with where
those agreements were leading, but he also signed agreements
over Hebron and later at the Wye plantation, furthering the
process begun at Oslo. Though Netanyahu was personally
opposed to the "Peace Process" that began at Oslo, there was
little he could do to stop it. Perhaps he won better terms in
some cases but the process moved along.
When Ehud Barak was elected more than two and a half years
ago, he was prepared to speed up the proceedings, pulling at
things from the opposite direction than Netanyahu. He too was
unsuccessful at everything he tried (except for the
unilateral retreat from Lebanon). Syria and the Palestinians
were not prepared for him.
After almost a year in office, Sharon seems to have
maneuvered Arafat into a corner. It is an open (and to us
uninteresting) question as to exactly how much credit is due
to Sharon personally. He has certainly been helped by the
change in the U.S. government, since the new Republican
administration is not politically or emotionally committed to
the handshake between Rabin, Arafat and Clinton on the White
House lawn eight years ago. The shocking events of September
11 also profoundly affected the attitude of the entire world
to terrorist acts. The intense wave of terror that met the
recent American attempt to become more involved in the Middle
East by sending General Zinni to our area was also convincing
evidence that Arafat was not prepared to end the terror he
foments.
For his part, Sharon proclaimed a clear, defensible position,
asserting that he will not negotiate under fire and that
Arafat is a terrorist. He has declared his position over and
over again, and has so far not had to budge from it.
The result is that Arafat has lost a lot of his prestige
around the world. Though much of the world is fundamentally
more sympathetic to the Palestinians than to the Israelis,
Arafat is no longer accepted as a world leader even if he is
not yet branded a terrorist who must be eliminated. Moreover,
he is basically stuck in Ramallah, where his ability to get
press coverage is very limited. (Some say that the reason
Sharon refused to let him go to Bethlehem is that he is
afraid he would leave the country from there.)
Though the struggle with the Palestinians is far from over,
Sharon has achieved a reasonably good position. Yet as chess
experts know, position is important but it does not win the
game. There is no doubt that there is a vital need for
chizuk and prayer without which we cannot expect the
siyata deShmaya that undoubtedly remains essential.
